Advice from Radiology Residents

[Adam638]

As someone entering his first year of med school next fall, I'm wondering what advice you would give me in order to best prepare myself to match into radiology. I know Step 1 scores are the biggest, but if you guys could give me a little more advice I would appreciate it immensely. Any tips, tricks, etc. would be appreciated. Also, what clubs or extracurriculars are available in med school. I've looked at previous threads, but any additional info would be great. Thanks in advance.

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[hans19]

As someone entering his first year of med school next fall, I'm wondering what advice you would give me in order to best prepare myself to match into radiology. I know Step 1 scores are the biggest, but if you guys could give me a little more advice I would appreciate it immensely. Any tips, tricks, etc. would be appreciated. Also, what clubs or extracurriculars are available in med school. I've looked at previous threads, but any additional info would be great. Thanks in advance.

Read FAQ#1.

Instead of worrying about all the details as a first year, do well in your classes. The most important thing is to learn to adjust to the medical school environment, for some its vastly different and more intense than undergrad. Instead setting your sights on radiology so early, explore your options. There are other great fields in medicine besides radiology (...but not many! ).

 

[ScooterBanks]

The nine most important things to matching in Radiology are

1) Step 1 score
2) Step 1 score
3) Step 1 score
4) Being "likeable" and having a great personality during an interview


5) Med school grades
6) Step 2 score (which should be a moot point because you shouldn't take it prior to interviewing)
7) Research
8) Regional ties


9) Everything else (extracarriculars don't mean anything)


If you have a strong step 1 score and are a fun, likeable person to be around, you will match almost anywhere you want to go. That is the simple reality. Having those two things supercedes everything else.

 

[bigfrank]

good post!

 

[OHMAN0125]

The nine most important things to matching in Radiology are

1) Step 1 score
2) Step 1 score
3) Step 1 score
4) Being "likeable" and having a great personality during an interview


5) Med school grades
6) Step 2 score (which should be a moot point because you shouldn't take it prior to interviewing)
7) Research
8) Regional ties


9) Everything else (extracarriculars don't mean anything)


If you have a strong step 1 score and are a fun, likeable person to be around, you will match almost anywhere you want to go. That is the simple reality. Having those two things supercedes everything else.

I was just thinking. Isn't it sad that so much depends on one test (as in matching into a competitive field), and that this number will forever follow you. Hopefully in the future there will be a better system, but i doubt it.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I was just thinking. Isn't it sad that so much depends on one test (as in matching into a competitive field), and that this number will forever follow you. Hopefully in the future there will be a better system, but i doubt it.

Well I disagree, but only because I got a good score and I like seeing what the top 3 most important thingis above .

You have heard about the proposed changes that NBME is looking at?

 

[trp2006]

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[colbgw02]

Sorry to post a different question in this thread, but I have a dilemma here and I really need some advice. It's interesting because you all mentioned Step 1 as the major deciding factor for Rads.

I just started medical school as an M1, however I failed Gross Anatomy. My school committee decided to grant me to remediate this course in the summer. I think it was the initial adjustment and some other factors that had really bad influence on my grade. I was really stressed at first, but I decided to give it my best. I passed my second block with a good grade (Our school is Honors, Pass, Fail). So, my question to you all was, will this incident alone dictate my ability to match in Rads goodbye? Assuming, I work my a$$ for the boards, and end up doing well on them, do I still have a chance to match in Rads? I would really appreciate some advice on this. Sorry, if this is the wrong place to post it and let me know if I should make another thread for this. Thanks!

MS1s always put such a huge emphasis on gross anatomy, specifically, because it's typically the first course and all of their basic science classes, generally. It was the same way for my class. It's difficult for first year students to have perspective on how gross anatomy fits into your overall education.

The truth is that a single 3rd year clerkship is worth about 2-3 times as much in terms of credit. And in terms of how residency program directors view it, the discrepancy is probably about the same. When considered in those terms, you can see how a solid performance during 3rd year can pretty much trump anything that happens during the basic science years.

An isolated incident, as long as it remains that, won't hurt you much at all. Obviously, if you and another applicant are dead even, then this could be the deciding factor. But good grades in the remainder of your courses, a solid step 1 score, and a good interview will make remediating gross anatomy a negligible part of your application.